


Flora And Friends

by spannaintheworks



Category: Professor Layton
Genre: The most it mentions is bruises
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-08 16:20:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14697846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spannaintheworks/pseuds/spannaintheworks
Summary: Flora was feeling lonely: the Professor was busy teaching, and she didn't know anyone else here. She had come to know a few people in London, however one moved away, the other betrayed and kidnapped her, and the last one seemed to have disappeared! Ever since she first left the village, the world outside it seemed to overwhelm her and stress her out to her breaking point, sometimes so scared to face the world she could barely get out of her bed. But not today. Today she was going to meet someone. Anyone. Today, she was going to have a friend! One that wouldn't leave her, betray her, or hurt her; a best friend!





	1. Kizzy

**Author's Note:**

> Quick Notice:
> 
> Thank you for taking the time to read this lil' fic of mine! I've had these characters buzzing around my mind (Particularly Mars) for months, and only now have I had the confidence and time to bring them to life! Lemme tell you a bit about them:
> 
> Kizzy
> 
> Name: Kezia 'Kizzy' Frysee
> 
> Age: 16 (turned 16 a month before this fic takes place)
> 
> Nationality: English
> 
> Ethnicity: Black - Caribbean
> 
> Likes: Books, Murder Mysteries, styling her 'fro.
> 
> Mars
> 
> Name: Lamarley 'Mars' Antares
> 
> Age: 16 (turned 16 3 months before the fic takes place)
> 
> Nationality: English
> 
> Ethnicity: Black - African (specifically Malian)
> 
> Likes: Astronomy, music, meeting new people, Flora,
> 
> Amandeep
> 
> Name: Amandeep Turabel
> 
> Age: 15 (she's the youngest in the group)
> 
> Nationality: English
> 
> Ethnicity: Indian (specifically Punjabi)
> 
> Likes: Her mum's cooking, Sports Science, beating literally anyone in any sport.
> 
> Below is a list of British 'slang' terms used in each chapter:
> 
> Till: Cash register
> 
> Trolley: Cart
> 
> To Fancy: To want to date/ have a crush on someone
> 
> To Play Gooseberry: To be the third wheel
> 
> Bed-And-Breakfast: A hotel in which breakfast is included
> 
> To nip into: To quickly visit a place
> 
> Corner shop: Like Seven Eleven, can be but not always a shop on a street corner.
> 
> Bloke: A man
> 
> Lass: A young lady/girl
> 
> Pavement: A sidewalk
> 
> Phone Booth: A Payphone
> 
> Side Note: Two of the characters, Amandeep and Mars, refer to their mothers in another language - Amandeep says 'Mataji', the Punjabi term for 'mother', and Mars says 'Ba', the Bambaran term for 'mum'.
> 
> IN NO WAY is this meant to be offensive, and if these terms are incorrect, please feel free to say, I won't be upset :)

Kizzy

"Thank you for staying with us. We hope to see you soon!" She said, as the young couple walked out the entrance to her family's Bed-and-Breakfast. She enjoyed helping out there: not only was it her mother's dream come true, but she liked meeting new people and it was good work experience too. Once the couple had left, she reached into her pocket for her comb and fluffed up her afro a bit. Kizzy wasn't too obsessed with her appearance, yet she was proud of her hair - it had taken her all 16 years of her life to learn to love it.

No one in her family had kicked up that much of a fuss when she started growing it out naturally, nor when she started looking at black tops, black pants, black jackets, basically black everything. They didn't even worry too much when she said she was going around with her friends on days that they knew there were going to be protests about civil rights. Of course she wasn't lying: she was meeting up with her friends... to protest.

However, there were no 'meet-ups' scheduled for today, so when her mother came down and told her to go out and get some fresh air, she decided to go around her local park. Kizzy loved going there; whenever she was lost or unsure as to where to meet up, she always instinctively headed to that park, and right opposite was the university she dreamed of attending - Gressenheller University. It was also a nice escape from the newly-formed excess traffic caused by what had happened just last week. Kizzy was surprised that people were still willing to have holidays in the city, even after an act of domestic terrorism levelled half of it.

**5 minutes later...**

Luckily, the park was seemingly empty: next to no-one was there, except for a few souls seeking escape from the city's loud, impure environment. Kizzy found a vacant bench under a weeping willow tree and started reading her copy of Trial and Terror, a new murder-mystery novel by her favourite author, Millicent Toore. She wasn't sure exactly how much time had passed, but after a while she heard a voice say

"Excuse me, I love your hair!"

She turned around to find the source of the voice, which seemed to be a young girl about her age. She had beautiful brown eyes (that looked hopefully at Kizzy), which were framed perfectly by her round face and curled bangs. She was wearing an orange cotton house dress, cinched at the waist by a red ribbon that matched the one tying her auburn hair up in a ponytail. She looked familiar, but Kizzy couldn't tell why. She had a rosy glow about her cheeks, starkly contrasting to a series of bruises plotted along her arms. The girl was smiling sweetly at Kizzy, and wanting to keep that smile on her face, she quickly answered her.

"Oh, thank you! Your hair looks nice too!"

The girl smiled even more at Kizzy, her cheeks obtaining a rosy glow as she accepted her compliment with a simple 'aww thanks!' before going on to ask her:

"Is that the new Millicent Toore book?"

The girl's face morphed into an inquisitive expression, her once hopeful brown eyes now acquiring a hint of curiosity. Kizzy simply replied (with an equally as inquisitive smirk creeping across her face),

"Yes, it is, I got it yesterday. Why, do you like her books?"

At this, the girl's face lit up as she excitedly responded,

"Omigosh, I love her! I have all her books, my favourite though has got to be The Golden Silence, but that's only if I had to pick one!"

As she said her last word, the soft tolling of a school bell could be heard across the park. The girl noticed this and said:

"I gotta go meet someone at the university now. We will have to meet up and obsess over Millicent Toore sometime! Maybe tomorrow here again, at the same time?"

Kizzy liked that idea and replied,

"Yeah, I can make that. Also, what's your name, sorry? I don't think you told me. Mine's Kizzy."

"Oh, Kizzy is such a pretty name! My name's Flora, by the way. See you tomorrow then, Kizzy!" And with that, Flora ran off in the direction of the university.

**Later...**

On the way back, Kizzy decided to nip into a nearby corner shop. She often went in there to buy sweets, groceries and her father's newspaper. However, she hadn't got today's paper yet and knew that she needed to get it on pain of making her dad upset, so she walked over to the newspaper stand. The front headline immediately caught her eye.

**_Madman Murderer Masqueraded as Young Boy and Made Off with Teen-Ager_ **

_It has been revealed that the madman that attempted to destroy the capital city just last week also impersonated a young boy and kidnapped a young woman._

This piqued Kizzy's interest as she picked up a copy for her father. More and more information about the recent attack on her home city was coming to light, and the more she could find out about it, the better. As she walked towards the till to pay, she continued to read the article.

_The court has now received reports that Clive Dove, the man charged with attempted destruction by fortress of the city of London, claimed to be the 'future version' of a 13 year old boy and held a now 16 year old girl captive on the fortress._

This intrigued Kizzy: not only was this new information about the incident (which she was desperate to find out more about), but now a young girl - who was her age, no less- had also been unnecessarily drawn into it. She read on;

_Dove, 23, attempted to destroy the entire capital just last Wednesday. However, prior to the event, he allegedly lured esteemed archaeologist and university professor Hershel Layton and others to an underground cavern, which had been modelled to look like London 10 years into the future. They were told that they'd been transported 10 years into the future, and that Dove was the 'future version' of one of Layton's accomplices, 13 year old Luke Triton (inset top)._

Kizzy looked over to where the picture of this 'Luke' kid was, and immediately saw how this rich bloke could've got away with it: the two looked like brothers, or at least related in some way. Nevertheless, she was keen to learn more about the event, so she looked back to the article itself.

_On top of that, according to eyewitness accounts (including that of Scotland Yard's finest, Inspector Chelmey himself), Dove; whilst on his way to initiate the attack, grabbed hold of and physically dragged (at the time) 15 year old Flora Reinhold (right) out of the door and onto a speedboat (which he used to reach the fortress)._

_Reinhold said on the attack:_

_"I was terrified: I didn't know what was happening, nor what was going to happen. One minute I was sitting down in a café, the next being shoved into a boat, then being dragged around the fortress, and finally being forced into a glass cage of sorts. I was that shocked that straight after I landed in the cage, I blacked out and couldn't remember a thing until I woke up."_

"Y'alright, love?" Said the cashier at the counter, bringing Kizzy back into the real world. She could feel that her mouth was no longer closed, and quickly snapped her jaw shut.

"Y-Yeah, yeah, I'm alright, thanks." Kizzy said, as she handed over the paper and the money for it. She got so wrapped up in reading about that girl her age called Flora, that she forgot about the world around her. A thought crossed her mind, a thought that both interested and shocked her: a thought about the two Floras that she had encountered that day, in the park and the article - that they may be one and the same.

The cashier once again interrupted her thoughts by handing back the paper and the spare change whilst saying,

"Terrible thing, what 'appened to that young lass, eh? Y'know, she's got a lotta bruises all over her, and that's just the physical injuries she got!"

Kizzy rushed to answer.

"Yeah, poor girl. I hope she's ok, especially now the press knows. Who knows what kind of stories they'll make up about her? My heart goes out to her, what with her being my age an' all that. Thanks!"

Kizzy was too eager to get back to that article and to look at the pictures, particularly after that conversation. The cashier said that this Flora that was kidnapped was bruised all over, much like the Flora she saw today. She glanced back to the paragraph about what happened to the girl, just to check where the photo of this Flora was.

_...Flora Reinhold (Right) out of..._

She looked over to the right side of the page.

And sure enough, that was the Flora she met earlier that day.


	2. Mars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the positive feedback from the first chapter!  
> This chapter is slightly more romantic, but I hope it's still just as good as the first chapter!

**Mars**

Ding!

Another customer enters the cramped bookshop. Mars doesn't manage to catch a glimpse of them from behind the mountain of books he's working behind. He's been working here for almost 3 months now, and enjoys meeting every individual customer. However, new books don't price themselves, and as of right now, he has quite a few to put a price tag on.

He runs a hand through his dark brown dreads as he prices more books.

A book on the animal kingdom. _Not interested_ , he thought. 5.99.

The new Millicent Toore book. _My friend Kizzy got that the other day. I'll have to ask her if it's any good._ 6.99.

An astrology book. _I'm saving up for that one._ 5.99.

A book on Africa. _Thanks, whoever had the nerve to put that in my pile. Joke's on them, I was born here._ 5.99.

A book on various ancient torture methods. _Lovely_. 4.99.

Lastly, a romantic novel. _Haha_ , Mars thought, _Yeah right!_ 7.99.

Now that he had finished pricing his pile of books, he headed over to place them on the shelving trolley. His co-worker, Maya, quickly asked him:

"Mars, could you man the till whilst I take a quick break, please?" To which he simply nodded and smiled. He carefully placed his pile onto the trolley and made his way over to the till.

The second he looked across the shop floor, his eyes fell on one customer in particular. She was walking towards him, her ponytail bobbing up and down with each step closer, her own mountain of books being held by both her thin arms. She had her eyes on him too, and was smiling, her cheeks flushing almost the same colour as the cherry red ribbon in her hair. Mars smiled back, looking away shyly, then back to her, as she laid her stack of books onto the counter between the two.

"H-hey." she said shyly, as Mars checked the price of the first book in the pile.

"Hi," he started, just as shyly,"N-Nice to meet you." They both smiled, as Mars entered the book's price into the till.

"What's... What's your name?" She asked, both adorably and timidly.

He chuckled, rather awkwardly, and said,

"Well, uh... It's kinda weird, you see... My full name is Lamarley, but people tend to just call me Mars, or, uh.. Marley."

"Mars? Like the planet?!" Her eyes suddenly lit up in awe, begging him to answer.

"Yeah, it's kinda coincidental, too... Because I love astrology and sci-fi stuff involving Mars - and the Martians." He continued.

"What about you - er, your... Your name?"

The girl blushed even more and looked away, before admitting:

"It-It's Flora. M-Mine's not coincidental, because... I'm not really interested in flowers..." She looked back at him, as he entered the price of the last book into the till. He then turned to her, smiled, and said, rather unusually confidently for him;

"Well, you _are_ as pretty as one."

This compliment caused her to blush profusely and giggle politely, clearly flattered by his comment. She looked behind him, and immediately spotted something.

"Is that the new Millicent Toore book?" She asked, smiling hopefully.

"It is, yeah... It's been checked and priced, and... All it needs is to be shelved," he continued,"So... If you want I could add it onto your, erm... Your-"

"Yes! That would be awesome!" She interrupted, beaming excitedly. Mars turned around, swiftly plucked the book off of the trolley, and entered its price into the till, still smiling.

"Y'know, my friend started reading this book not too long ago... She said it was good. You probably wouldn't know her though... Her name's Kizzy?" He added, pausing to look at her.

"Oh, I met a girl called Kizzy in a park near Gressenheller university the other day! She was reading it there. I've actually just come from meeting up with her, we meet up everyday after she's finished school." The girl - no, Flora - said, her eyes glowing so bright they could light up the sky.

"Oh, well, there you are then! Uh, also... That'll be 32.90." Mars unfortunately had to remind her that she had to pay, ruining the moment. However, it was her turn to be smooth, and to save the mood.

"3-2-9-0? That seems too short to be a phone number." She then giggled cutely and added, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I've got the money right here." She handed him two twenty-pound notes, which he accepted with trembling hands, blushing and beaming himself. He placed the notes into the till, and whilst counting up her change, started:

"Well, I couldn't give you my number anyway... My parents wouldn't be very happy if I gave a stranger our number - no offense. But I could possibly tag along with Kizzy, next time you see her, if that's ok with her - a-and you, of course?" He asked, handing back her change.

She emptied the money back into her purse, grabbed her stack of books, smiled, looked at him and said,

"It's a date!"

**_Later..._ **

"Hey, Kizzy, do you... Know a girl called, uh... Flora?" Mars saw Kizzy entering her house on the way back home after work, and decided to ask her about when the two will next meet up.

"Yeah... I do. Why? Do _you_ know a girl called Flora?"Kizzy answered, showing clear suspicion of her lifelong friend.

"Y-yeah, I, uh... Met her in work today and, uh..." He stammered awkwardly, unable to looks get in the eye. However, she quickly interrupted him, and carried on with her inquisition.

"Why are you stammering so much, Mars? What's up with you?" He tried to explain the best he could.

"Well, um... T-this Flora... She was just ... Er, she was-"

"You're blushing!" Kizzy exclaimed, looking like she was having a breakthrough moment. "Out with it, man, out with it!"

Mars tried to stop himself from stammering, but those efforts were in vain.

"I-I, uh... I think I - li-... I l-like-"

Kizzy snapped her fingers and pointed at him, then stated, like a detective announcing their deductions.

"You like Flora!"

There was no point in denying any further, so instead, Mars tried again to explain himself.

"She's just so... So cu-er, so... So perfect... I think she ... Felt t-the same way, or at least... I,uh... I hope she did." He continued,

"I mean, uh... At one point she... She asked for my number..."

"Did you give her it?" Kizzy asked, smiling now that her theory was proven right.

"N-no, but instead I, uh... I suggested that if you ... A-and her were OK with it... That I-I could tag along when, uh... When you two next meet." He managed to stutter out the original reason why he had talked to Kizzy at long last.

"Ooh, I'd love to play Matchmaker for you two! I might have to find someone else willing to go though, but you two won't mind." She paused to look at him, and he nodded, smiling. She then added:

"Just wait until your brothers hear about this!"

Straight after she near-enough shouted that last statement, Mars heard a voice from above him, that sounded like one of his older brothers, holler back,

"He doesn't have to!"

Kizzy smiled, and as she opened the door to her house, said but 6 words:

"We meet after school tomorrow, OK?"

"T-Tomorrow?!" Mars exclaimed, surprised at how soon he was going to see Flora again. He then immediately dashed indoors, grabbed something to eat, ignored his brothers teasing him about his ' _giirrlll_ -friend', showered and then went to bed, eager for tomorrow to arrive.


	3. Amandeep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!  
> Thanks for all the comments and kudos regarding the last chapter! This is the last one introducing a character for the foreseeable future, after this it'll be mainly their adventures together. Thanks again!

__

 

"Oi, Aman, get up!" Her mother said, ripping the bedcovers off of her daughter, exposing her to the morning sun. "Time for school, ok?"

"Mmm... 5 more minutes, Mataji.." Amandeep mumbled.

"No, Aman! If I let you sleep for 5 more minutes, you'll be _'5 more minutes_ ' late for school. Get up!" Her mother stormed off downstairs.

Amandeep just about managed to push herself upright, her long dark hair falling in front of her face, like that of a certain horror movie character. She whipped her hair back immediately, so that she could see, swung her legs around to the side of the bed, and stood up, groaning. She then slipped on her slippers and headed downstairs.

Her father was in the kitchen, reading the newspaper and drinking tea. Her mother was almost done cooking breakfast. Amandeep smiled a little: Mama's cooking was always delicious, and every night before her birthday, she'd beg her mother to cook breakfast the next morning. Her mother immediately spotted Amandeep and started saying:

"You know, when I was your age, I had no time for '5 more minutes' in bed, Aman. Me and your Papa worked so hard to get here because we wanted a better life for you. Isn't that right?" She looked over to her husband expectantly.

"Huh? Oh, yes, yes, that's right, Aman." He paused for a second to read something, then added, "Oi, look here! The trial for that idiot boy that destroyed Saiju's house is less than a week away!" Saiju was her aunt, whose house had been destroyed in what happened last week. Amandeep went over to her father to see the article.

"See here, Aman? That girl there, in the photo - yes the one who was held hostage on that death machine - she's your age."

"Mmhm, so count yourself lucky, Aman." Her mother cut in. "Now eat up."

**_Later..._ **

"Have a good day at school, Aman. Study hard, ok?" Her mother called as Amandeep left for school, shutting the door behind her. She stepped out onto the pavement outside her house, and turned left towards her school. She didn't live too far from her school, however she left in plenty of time to stop in the stationery shop. She was always looking in there for new pens, pencils, notebooks, and even some craft materials, sometimes.

Upon entering the shop, she immediately bumped into someone and sent herself flying backwards. She then heard a kind, soft voice, say:

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry! Please, let me help you up!" As the person who the voice belonged to held out a soft, pale hand. Amandeep graciously took hold of said hand with her own smooth, bronze hand, and managed to get up perfectly fine. She then looked at the person who the voice belonged to - and stifled a yelp. It was the girl from the newspaper.

She was looking at Amandeep with clear concern, having just knocked her over accidentally, and said,

"I'm so sorry! Are you ok? Are you hurt?"

Amandeep's first thoughts were turning to the girl and asking 'are _you_ ok?' But, she thought that the girl had probably already been asked that a million times, so instead she brushed it off and said;

"Oh, no, I'm fine. Me? Hurt? Nah, nah, I'm alright. Just a bit... In shock, y'know, 'cause I - I didn't see you there." She paused to give the girl a reassuring smile. "Excuse me, sorry." The girl smiled and swiftly darted to the side so Amandeep could get past.

**_Afterwards..._ **

Amandeep didn't seem too in shock during school after what happened that morning. Science was simple, Latin was lovely, and Maths was... Meh. Lunchtime seemed as calm as normal, until Kizzy asked her something.

"'Ey, Mandee, are you busy after school?"

Amandeep calmly responded,

"No, why?"

Kizzy continued;

"Well, you see... Everyday, after school, I go along to park by Gressenheller, y'know the one. And I meet a friend of mine there."

"Okay..." Amandeep felt a bit unnerved - she didn't really trust strangers that much. Kizzy carried on,

"And today, I'll be meeting her too. However , Mars - y'know, Mars? Dark skin, hair in locs, wouldn't-hurt-a-fly? He's coming today too, after school."

"Rrright..." Amandeep added. She could tell where this was going. Kizzy then finished with:

"But here's the thing, right: Mars kinda-sorta-really-strongly fancies this girl. And apparently, she might fancy him back. Now, I don't wanna play gooseberry, see? And I checked with him and he doesn't mind if I bring someone along with me, so can you make it?"

There it was. He had a crush on this girl and Kizzy didn't want to feel left out, despite always claiming to be the 'Matchmaker' in these sorts of scenarios. Before she gave her almost predetermined answer, she asked:

'What is this girl like?' To which Kizzy explained,

"Oh, she's really nice! She's got brown eyes, she often wears her hair in a ponytail, she's very friendly-"

"Wait, she sounds familiar. This is kind of a stretch, but... Was she involved in the London attack last week?" Amandeep cut in.

"How did you know that?" Kizzy asked, surprised.

"Because I saw her this morning: I _literally_ bumped into her." Amandeep explained, quite astoundedly.

"Well, there you are then! Come along with me, make it up to her, her and Mars get together, and we all become friends! Everybody's happy!" Kizzy exclaimed happily.

_Well, she did **seem** alright this morning_ , Amandeep thought, _I will have to ask my parents, though_.

"Ok, but I will have to nip home and ask my parents, so I might be a bit late." She finally responded.

"Not a problem! In fact, I've got some spare money, so you could use a phone booth, if you want." Kizzy added, ecstatic that the 'Matchmaker' would have assistance. "Meet us in the park by Gressenheller as soon as possible, ok?"

"Ok." said Amandeep, just as the bell rang to signal the end of lunch.


	4. The Big Meet-Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, at long last! Also, sorry these last few uploads have been so sporadic, I've just been bogged down with exams and revision and just... ugh.

  
3:35pm. Five minutes. Flora slung her bag on her shoulder and started walking towards the park. The Professor was busy teaching a class, and so as to not disturb him, she had written a note and placed it on his desk, under a paperweight, in plain sight. It read:

_Dear Professor,_

_I've gone to meet up with some friends at the park across the street. We might be going around London, so I will try not to make it home too late. I also have money on me, and will try and call home from a phone booth at about 5:00. See you then._

_From, Flora_

_P.S: There are cucumber sandwiches in the fridge if you're hungry!_

She checked that she had enough money on her, which she did, and then left.

**_Meanwhile..._ **

"Hi, Mataji?" Amandeep said, gripping the phone tighter in her right hand.

" _Huh? What is it, Aman? Why are you calling?_ " Her mother answered on the other end.

"Um, well... Kizzy asked if I wanted to go to the park with her - just her, just her - to study. Yeah, we just wanted to study in fresh air for once." Amandeep only had to lie a little to convince her mother.

" _Ok, but be home by 7pm, no later! I'll make tea late too. Stay safe and study hard! Goodbye!"_ She finished, under the pretence that her daughter was going to study.

"Ok, bye Mataji! Love you!" Amandeep said, ending the call.

"Let's get going, Mandee! We've got, like, 3 minutes!" Kizzy grabbed Amandeep by her upper arm, dragging her along.

**_Simultaneously..._ **

Mars dashed inside his house, eager to be ready on time.

"Ah, Marley, you're hom-" his mother called, rather rudely interrupted by her youngest son.

"Sorry, Ba - I'm in a rush right now!" He cut in, sprinting up the stairs.

"Oh - whatever for? Surely your friends can wait?" His mother politely asked, following him to the bottom of the stairs.

"Well, you see, Ba," one of his older brothers, Leo, called, "He's going to meet his

_GIIIIIRRRLLLL_ -FRIIIEEEENDD there too!"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Mars called, defensively, from behind his bedroom door.

"Yet!" Leo responded, laughing a little.

"Now, Leopold, try not to tease your brother too much. He's only been 16 a few months, he's still got a while before he has to settle down." His mother politely warned Leo, as Mars dashed out of his room, down the stairs (his mother quickly darting out of his way), and reached for his satchel, causing Leo to shout:

"Don't forget your man-bag, Mars-Bar!" as Mars bolted out of the door.

**_At the park..._ **

After a few minutes, Mars arrived at the park - with one minute to spare. He took a large exhale, and sat down on a bench to try and catch his breath, simultaneously watching the world go by. The smell of cheap antiperspirant - that he had sprayed all over himself whilst getting changed - tickled his nostrils. However, he ignored it for a second as he saw two familiar faces headed his way.

He smiled, reassured that he now had company.

"Hey! Sorry we kept you waiting! Mandee just had to call her mum!" Kizzy called, still dragging Amandeep along.

"It's ok," Mars calmly explained,"You're on time, I was just a bit early, that's all."

"Where's this other girl?" Amandeep asked.

"Huh. She's usually here by now." Kizzy paused after saying this. Mars started to panic: Did something happen to her? Is she sick? Injured? Dead? Could she have suddenly lost interest in all of them and -

"Ah, hold on, there she is. She must've just been a bit late, that's all." Kizzy finally added.

"So sorry! I just had to check everything over before I left!" Flora apologised, quickly scampering towards them. She turned to face Kizzy first.

"Have you guys just come from school?"

Kizzy explained,

"School finished about ten minutes ago, but it's not too far from here, so we didn't have to walk for very long. However, Amandeep had to call her parents." Kizzy then gestured towards Amandeep. Flora looked surprised as she turned to face her.

"Hey, you're the girl from this morning! Nice to meet you, I'm Flora!" she said, excited to meet someone new.

"So I've heard!" Amandeep replied, "I'm Amandeep, but you can just call me Mandee."

"Ok!" Flora confirmed, as she noticed Mars out of the corner of her eye and spun on her heels to face him. His heart immediately started pounding.

"H-Hi, Mars." She smiled, starting to blush.

"Hey there, Flo..ra, er... How are you?" Mars just about managed to stammer out.

"Oh, I'm good... Thank you." She answered, stepping closer to him. His heart was practically trying to break out of his ribcage at this point. Kizzy chuckled and said,

"Now you don't have a counter to hide behind!" Mars' only response was:

"I wouldn't want to anyway." As he smiled at Flora, he felt something- no, two things, one on each side, wrapping around his stomach. He thought it was his intestines, so nervous that they had completely rearranged themselves. But then, he noticed that Flora had come even closer now, and as the things around his stomach got tighter, she rested her head on his chest. He then realised: he was being hugged, and the things wrapped around his stomach were, in fact, her arms.

Upon realising this, he immediately hugged her back: right hand on her lower back, left hand by her head, and his own head resting gently on top of hers. His heart was practically pressing against his skin now, pushing him forward, closer to her. He noticed that her hair wasn't in a ponytail today, and that it felt, well... Like a unicorn's - soft, silky, and rare.

He also noticed that Kizzy and Amandeep were stood there, watching on but smiling. He felt Flora start to lean against his arms, trying to pull away, and let her. Both unwrapped their arms and stood before one another, still smiling, still blushing.

She was wearing an off-shoulder dress - Mars thought he saw something, potentially a birthmark, just above the collar of the dress; however, he decided not to say anything. Kizzy then bounded towards them, saying;

"Come on! There'll be time for cute-couple moments later! Let's go around London!"


End file.
